We witnessed the bad and the good of world football unfolding in the past few days.
First, to the latest allegations of wrong-doing by senior members of FIFA, the governing body of football.
It was an accident waiting to happen and simply because, it seems, that the organisation works like a law unto itself and for years it has appeared that its stewardship of the world’s most popular sport was above scrutiny.
FIFA comes over not only as a pious group but very autocratic too.
For instance, they don’t allow members to settle matters in court; if you do, that affiliate is banned.
This means that an individual’s quest for natural justice has to be aborted because FIFA will ban any association that allows any member to seek redress in court.
The Randy Harris case should be fresh in our minds as a parochial reference. Over four years ago he was banned for taking a matter to court.
It was either him or Barbados would’ve been banned from all international play, no matter how strong a case he presented.
How often, though, does FIFA appear to hold its own members to such high standards?
Up until recently when news broke that there may have been shady dealings surrounding the allocation of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, the world body seemed slow to act on previous occasions when there were similar allegations.
Some claim that they have moved quickly this time because England was bitterly disappointed because their bid failed and the sour grapes syndrome set in with them.
Since then, four executive members have been suspended including Jack Warner, FIFA vice-president and president of CONCACAF, the hemisphere that includes Barbados.
Truth be told, when CONCACAF general secretary Chuck Blazer accused some of his own members of bribery in the run-up to the election of a new FIFA president, it was clear that the organisation was about to implode.
It has to be a watershed in its history when the world governing body for football investigates its own president and two executive members.
It is showing the transparency that has been demanded by some of its critics for years in respect of how it does business.
We can only hope that it continues after the dust is settled from the latest controversy.
On the positive side, the beauty of Barcelona’s performance in the Champions League final against Manchester United painted the perfect picture of how football should be played and relegated the FIFA boardroom issues to the sidelines.
It is not often that the great Sir Alex Fergusson concedes that his beloved United were outplayed by an opponent but he was quick to do so after the 3-1 caning at the feet of Barcelona.
It was a true master class which teams should use for compulsory viewing as part of their training sessions. Yes, it was that great a display!
Let us recognise that Barcelona would not have developed virtual perfection in a couple of days. The club is a work in progress that began in the mid-1980s when Dutchman Johan Cruyff set up the Barcelona Youth Academy. Their style of play is rooted deeply in the Dutch’s Total Football concept of the 1970s.
Not surprisingly, the Spanish national team play in the exact manner as Barcelona and they are the world champions.
The moral of the story is that teams can develop a style carved in their own image and we as purists can only hope it will be beautiful too.
Given recent revelations, what the sport seems to lack off the field, we are keen to see on it.
Andi Thornhill is a sports journalist at the Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation. Email [email protected]
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